Force Unleashed

For the Liquid Force 2025 foil shoot, the team had the eternal challenge on how to show off their spanking new kit in the best light possible. The optimal factors were: crystal clear water, white sandy beaches, unreal weather. Not much to ask, right? Thankfully, the crew at Wake To Wake Turks and Caicos reached out, and made the choice a pretty simple one for all concerned…

Words: Meagan Ethell | Photos Josh Bernard

Day I

Upon touching down in Turks and Caicos, the vibes were at an ultimate high with the crew (Guenther Oka, Jimmy Redmon [Liquid Force Founder & VP of R&D], Josh Bernard, Shane Bonifay [videographer] and myself). As we waited in the customs line, the humid air was definitely making us itch to get on the water. Joe Highfil (LF Creative Director)  and Pete Mehrhof (LF’s Senior Product Designer) arrived to pick us up, with Pete rolling up in a minivan and rocking a Hawaiian shirt. Our little villa was epic, and the crew started the trip with a pool session and a few cervezas. We got on the water that evening with the Wake to Wake crew on their new MasterCraft X24. As the sun dipped, it became clear this trip was going to be something special. We rounded out the night grilling, chilling, and plotting out the week ahead.

Day II

The next morning, we were up early, playing Tetris to load all our gear into two cars. It was a beautiful day and the sun was rising and lighting up the water. That is something we missed the first day because it was slightly overcast, but on the second day, we really got to see just how crystal-clear and turquoise blue this water was. That alone made everyone in the group so frothy, as well as the new LF foil gear of course. We had a storm roll in that afternoon that further lit up the water’s vivid colors. Guenther broke out the wing as well and got some underwater shots with Josh and Shane. After that, we beached the boats on the shore and scooped up Harley Clifford and Luca Kidd, which added a new level of high as the whole crew was finally reunited.

That evening was filled with one of my favorite moments of the trip. I was able to get a sunset foil in, and I must say, there is something about a golden hour session that is just the crème de la crème of being on a board. Ripping sharp turns on the new Stratus 725 foil was pure magic. I could really dig deep at the bottom of each turn and drive back into the wave with so much speed. Harley and Luca followed me up with a double shred as the sun was setting. As we finished up the evening, we sang and danced on the boat to a lot of throwback tunes, my favorite being ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield. We idled back into the marina as the last light of the day melted into the horizon.

Day III

Waking up on the morning of day three, and I made an unforgivable mistake. I poured water onto Harley’s face to wake him up (thinking it would be funny), but he saw otherwise. Luckily we made amends and moved past it quickly with a hug and some condolences. That morning was magnificent as we got onto the water and it was absolutely glassy, the sun was high, and the water was bluer than any blue that I’ve ever seen. We spent the entire day next to the shore of one of the private beaches in Turks. Luckily, we also got to spot Jojo, who is the famous dolphin of Turks, and her baby. If you know me, you know I love seeing dolphins. It just instantly brought me so much joy. Guenther and I got a solid doubles session in and it’s always so fun to share a wave with my guy.

For lunch, we posted up on shore under a tent, and Mark whipped us up some of the best pork chops I’ve ever had, followed up with some grilled corn. We continued to get our shred on with a huge party wave of five people. That party wave may or may not have taken way too long because everyone kept falling. That being said, I’m the only one, yes me, who didn’t fall at all during that party wave. Just saying…

With Jake Caster being the local Turks boy, he gave us a lot of insights to the island, what waters were the best to go to, and just an overall great understanding of what Turks had to offer. That evening, we went to this spot on the island called “The Conch”. When we arrived, the place was packed… half the group got split up, and when I say split up, I mean one half was found on the dance floor. The other half of the group were starving, so we went to get burgers. When we were in the van, I said to Joe (who was already stressed because of the crew getting split up), “I thought we were going to have a team dinner?”. That was the final straw and he yelled at me “Shut the frick up Meagan” (that’s the PG version). I responded with “Someone’s feeling a bit sassy…” and, thankfully, we had a lot of laughs about it. After all of the hangry – I mean hungry – boys were fed, we made our way back to The Conch. We finished off an unbelievable trip to Turks and Caicos with rum punch pitchers and a humid, but popping dance floor. We left drenched in sweat, but our hearts were full from the lifetime memories we’d just made that week.

All in all, this trip was one for the books. Our crew at LF is a family, and when we get to be together, we never fail to have an unforgettable time. We were all so hyped on the new gear and getting to showcase it in the best way possible and in some of the best waters in the world. Huge shout out to Wake to Wake for their hospitality, showing us a great time, and for making this adventure seamless for us. Without them, we probably would have hit a sand bar somewhere.